The Commission on TV and Radio (CTR) has announced a tender for the licensing of the use of the capital slot in the public multiplex. After the bankruptcy of “ArmNews,” that slot was left empty and now a snap election is taking place. Four applicants will compete for the right to broadcast in Yerevan, two quite well-known and two not so well-known. 

They are “Armenian Second TV Channel” LLC, “: Boon” Scientific and Cultural Foundation, “iAN TV” LLC, and “No. 1 TV Company 2020” LLC. 

“Armenian Second TV Channel” 

H2 is an old resident of the TV field, it has been on air since 1999, and in 2021 it was excluded as a result of the competition for licensing the use of slots in the public multiplex (it applied only for the national slot). Now the channel is deprived of terrestrial broadcasting and is available only on cable TV. 

After being left out of the tender, H2 applied to the administrative court, demanding that the decision of the CTR be declared invalid and that it be declared the winner of the tender. The court upheld that claim, but the CTR filed a counterclaim. The case is still ongoing. 

And now H2 wants to return to the public multiplex again, this time with a capital dissemination. 

The deputy director of H2 presented their programs to the commission, showing an advertising film about the TV company. 

“։Bun” 

“:Boon’s” scientific-professional content has been on the Internet since 2013. Being an individual initiative, this platform filled a severe gap in the media content of Armenia, making the modern scientific and cultural thought in the Armenian language more visible. 

It has been several months since “:Boon,” this time as a channel with airtime, is available by cable broadcasting. 

“:Boon” is an unusual initiative in the field of media, as a TV producer, it has no news programs and content related to the day. Rather, it seeks to expand the context of topics and guests by creating series and programs that help turn the information received into knowledge. 

“:Boon” prepares various professional and thematic series and podcasts, and forms an expert and scientific community in Armenia. 

The financial flows come from several sources: grants, advertising, and cooperation. 

“iAN TV” 

“iAN TV” LLC was registered a month before the tender. The director is Garegin Kamalyan, who is the only shareholder of 100%. He told CTR that he is one of the co-founders of “Armenia” TV, lives in the USA, and always does things that are not repeated and that advance the field of television. 

According to him, “iAN TV” will be an umbrella, under which producers of different content will gather. And many employees will work remotely from different countries. The storage and installation of information are going to be done through the cloud system (the servers will be in Los Angeles and Frankfurt). 

It was announced that the main direction will be edutainment, a combination of educational and entertainment. 

He did not want to mention any program or content yet, as they are going to study the ratings and statistics in order to create more “targeted” content. 

Garegin Kamalyan mentioned advertising and sponsorship as a source of finances, and if the funds are not enough, he is ready to invest his own money, as he has several businesses. 

“Television No. 1 2020” 

“Television No. 1 2020” was founded in 2018, but in 2020 the editor-in-chief and editorial policy changed, they experienced financial problems, and internal disputes arose (there were no contracts with employees, and salaries were not paid). Criminal cases were initiated, which were later dismissed. 

The director and the only shareholder is Edgar Babayan, who moved to Armenia from Russia after the Velvet Revolution and he managed to find financing himself. 

“Television No. 1 2020” is a website that releases visual products and wants to become a TV channel. It is ready to expand and, as it declares in its slogan, to make a revolution of values. By the way, the “about us” and “feedback” sections on tiv1.am are empty, it is only an advertisement. 

One of these four candidates will be elected, the CTR has two months to publish its decision. 

Nune Hakhverdyan